After the Storm
by Fourtris Eaton
Summary: Taking place after "Don't Think Just Jump", After the Storm is a story based on the children of the main characters of the Divergent Trilogy. Follow Natalie Eaton, Uriah Pedrad, and Hayley Prior as they go through their last year in school making the decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.
1. Chapter 1

_The world is a different place Things have changed and reverted back to the way they were before long before the Purity War. There are no factions here. And everything is valued. No one person is just one thing anymore. With the help of the United States Government, the world has started to rebuild itself to what it once was. Roads have been repaved and cities rebuilt. The walls around the city of Chicago have been knocked down. For the first time in over a hundred years, there is peace._

**NATALIE**

"Natalie!" Mom calls up the stairs. "Time to get ready for school!"

I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It's the first day of my last year of school. I don't know how I feel about that. I hate school, but then again the idea of going off into the real world and finding a job is intimidating. I don't know what I want to do after school. I don't know what I'm good at, or if I'm even good at anything to begin with.

Things are better now, compared to what they were like before I was born. The wars and the fighting...they made it better for us. I've see the records and the archives and I know that I shouldn't complain about my life and not knowing what I want to do. I have it good. My generation got it easy. My father likes to tell me that he did all this hard work just for me. But my dad's weird. Actually, both of my parents are weird. Sometimes I don't get them at all.

"Nat, get up!" Mom calls again. "Or your father will come in there."

I groan. When my dad has to come in here to wake me up, he literally lies across my body making it difficult for me the breathe. And he doesn't get up until I finally tell him that I'm getting up. And he comes back to check on me to make sure that I am in fact dressed and ready do walk out of the door. I hear his footsteps and his deep throated chuckle coming up the stairs and I quickly jump out of bed and run to the door opening it. He stops on the top step and glares at me.

"I'm up," I tell him. "I'm up."

"Oh hello up, I'm-"

I slam the door.

"Hey!" he says. "You didn't let me finish!"

"I've heard that joke before, dad," I tell him. "You're going to have to come up with some new material!"

He makes a noise like a whine and then I hear him go back down the stairs. I open my door just in time to hear him talking to my mom.

"She says I need new material," He says.

She laughs. "Well..."

"Not you too!"

I shake my head and close the door. I walk to my closet and pull out a paid of blue jeans and a red tank top. It's still warm enough early in the day that I can leave the house in a tank top, but I have to take a jacket with me for later in the evening. I grab my bag and head downstairs to the kitchen where my father is drinking coffee and my mother is making eggs on the stove.

"Good morning," mom says smiling at me. "You hungry?"

"No, thanks," I say grabbing a mug from the cabinet and pouring myself some coffee.

"Are Uriah and Hayley coming to get you?"

Uriah and Hayley are my best friends. Uriah is a few months older than I am and he's the son of some of my parents friends and Hayley is my cousin on my mom's side. We're all pretty much the same age so we've done nearly everything together. And that includes the first day of school.

"Yeah," I say, finishing off my coffee. I look up at the clock on the wall. "They should be here soon..."

"Okay good, we have time then," dad says.

"Time for what?"

"For me to test my new material on you."

There is a knock at the door and I make a face. "Oh too bad," I tell him grabbing my lunch from the counter and kissing his cheek. "You'll just have to wait on that."

He sets his head on the table and groans. "Why are you so mean to me?"

I look at my mom and gesture to him. She shakes her head. "I'll handle him," she says, waving him off.

"Okay good," I say before kissing her cheek. "I'll see you guys later."

"Have a good last first day."

I frown. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Well that's a good thing, " dad says, lifting his head. "because it's the last time you'll hear it."

"Hear what?" I say.

"Have a good last first day," he says. "Damn!"

I grin. "Have a good day!" I say before heading outside. Uriah is leaning against the side of the house. He looks up as I walk out and I can't stop myself from smiling. Is it bad that I have a thing for my best friend? Is that totally and completely cliché? Either way, it's probably not even possible for him to see me as more than just a friend. We grew up together; he literally knows everything about me.

"Where's Hayley?" I ask him pulling my backpack onto my shoulders.

"I came here first," he says. "Figured we'd go get her together."

We walk across the grass toward the house right next door to my own. The houses in what used to be called the Abnegation sector look alike in structure and on the inside, but over the years, people have started painting their home to put their own spin on it. I was four when my parents decided to paint our house blue from the dull Abnegation grey. They recruited me to help and I remember being so excited to color somewhere other than paper. It was extremely exciting. It took us way longer than it should have because I kept wanting to draw things on the walls. Eventually the gave up trying and that is why on our home, on the wall right next to the door is a three foot high drawing of a house. Of our house. It's really hard to tell because it's blue on top of blue, but if you look hard enough, you'll see that it's there.

I hop up the steps to knock on the door.

"Come on in!" I hear my aunt's voice coming through the door and I push the door open with Uriah at my heels.

"Hey Aunt Chris," I saw walking down the hall to where she's sitting at the table with Uncle Caleb eating some toast. I sit down next to them and take a sip of her orange juice. "Uncle Caleb."

"Either of you hungry?" Caleb asks.

I shake my head. "I had coffee."

"Oatmeal," Uriah answers.

Caleb narrows his eyes at me. "You just had coffee?" he says. "Your mom let you leave the house like that?"

"I'm not hungry in the mornings," I say.

He shakes his head. "If I make you some toast, will you eat it?"

"Probably," I say. "But really if you give me any food, you know I'll eat it."

"True," Christina says with grin. Caleb walks over to the counter to put some bread in the toaster. Christina rubs my back and I pick at the fruit on her plate. "Are you guys looking forward to your last ear of school?"

"Definitely," Uriah says. "I'm looking forward to start working."

I look over at him. He's always known what he wanted to do. He wants to follow in his dad's footsteps and go into protection around the city. It's always made me jealous that he knows what he wants to do after school. Hayley knows that she's want to go into medicine and work with people in the old Erudite building. Me...I just have art. But there's nothing you can do with art. You can't make a living like that. Even if things are different here, I know that being an artist doesn't pay well.

"What about you, sweetie?"

I shrug and pull my focus from my thoughts. "I'm still working on that," I say.

"You've got time," Caleb says handing me a plate. "Eat this."

"Okay, okay," I say. 'Thank you."

"Stop forcing people to eat dad, jeez," Hayley says with a grin, as she walks into the kitchen and setting her backpack on the counter.

"It's the first day, she's gotta eat," Caleb says. "And so do you, he says handing another plate to her.

"I'll take it to go, or we're gonna be late," Hayley says grabbing a napkin to put the toast on. I get up from my chair and head for the doorway.

"We'll see you guys later, for dinner right?" I ask. "I think dad's cooking stew."

"Yeah we'll be there."

"Uriah sweetie, are you parents coming tonight?" Christina asks.

He nods. "Yeah, of course," he grins. "Mom loves getting out of cooking for a night."

We head out of the house and start on our way to school. I hold out the last piece of toast to Uriah. "Here eat this," I say.

He takes it and pops it into his mouth and chews it with a smile. One of the many things I love about Uriah is that if I can't finish something, he will finish it for me. And he always does it with a smile. It's one of the reasons he and I get along so well. We both love to eat. I hate wasting food. My mom always told me to be sure not to waste food because there are still people who are not as lucky as we are. The don't have access to as much food as we do in the working class. The factionless are still factionless here because they don't know how to emerge back into society after being neglected for so long. Mom and the other volunteers are still helping them, but sometimes I wonder if it's worth it.

"I almost didn't wake up today," Hayley says looking over at us as we walk down the street toward the Hub.

"I was awake but I didn't want to get out of bed," I reply. "Then dad threated to lay on me."

"He still does that?" Uriah asks.

"It's really the only effective way that I'll get out of bed," I say with a grin.

"I was up early this morning," he says. "I went running with my dad."

"When are you _not_ running?" Hayley asks him.

"Right now." He grins.

Sometimes I wonder about their relationship...if there's something more between the two of them, but I would never ask point blank. Plus if there was, the answer would probably devastate me. Devastate is probably a strong word, but I can't really think of another way to describe the way I'd probably feel.

"Wow you are an idiot," she says rolling her eyes. She comes to walk next to me and loops our arms together. "Did you draw me anything pretty?"

"You mean since I last saw you?" I ask. "Last night at dinner?'

"Yes."

"No." I tell her. She pouts at me. "But I'll get you one by end of day."

She grins and bounces on her feet.

"What about me?" Uriah asks. "Do I get anything?"

"You got my toast," I say.

"Yeah, well now it's gone. I want something that lasts forever."

"Well my friend, I don't anything like that. Paper eventually becomes dust."

"Wow. You're so dramatic," he says chuckling.

"I thought you'd be used to it by now," I say. I look at Hayley. "You're used to it, right?"

"Definitely used to it," Hayley grins.

He groans. "Are you really teaming up against me? You know that's not fair, right?"

I loop my arm with us. "But you love us anyway, right?"

He looks down at me with a that smile on his lips. The smile that drives me crazy. "Always."

I can't contain my grin as the three of us walk the streets of New Chicago heading toward the Hub to start out last first day of school. Life would be completely different if our parents hadn't gone through what they had seventeen years ago. Life would be different and I know for sure that I wouldn't be the same person that I am now. I don't tell them enough that I am grateful for what they did for my generation. I look up at Uriah and bite my lip when I see him looking down at me and then were share a smile before we head into the building to get ready for orientation. This year is going to be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

HAYLEY

I have heard a lot about what life was life before the walls around the city came down. It's not hard to get the information when your family members were part of the very revolution that saved your city. In the beginning dad didn't want me to know everything and I don't blame him, it's pretty intense stuff with lots of drama and tension and death. A lot of people died. But because of their sacrifice a lot of people had the opportunity to live. My mom wanted to tell me everything when I asked. Every detail, every fight. But I'm glad that they waited because I probably would have spent days crying. Empathy might be one of my weaknesses, but it's also one of my strengths. I've always wanted to help people, ever since I was a little girl and going into medicine, learning knew things, is something that I learned from my father.

But in order to help people in the way that I would, I have to push myself and really follow through on my goals. There is a lot that that I need to know in order to start working in the Erudite building. However, things aren't as complex now, what with all of the technology that we have. I've read stories from way back when, when people had to go through several years of secondary schooling just to learn how to heal people. Here in the city it's no longer as complex. Sure, there's a lot of work that is to be put into it, and I'm willing and able to learn, but I'm just glad it doesn't involve years and years of more school. I'm glad that it's the last year of school. I'm ready to get out into the real world and ready to start helping people. I want to learn how to make things better and easier for people. People should be given the same opportunities everywhere. It used to be fair here. People used to have that kind of freedom. I'm like that dad in that sense, where I want to learn everything that I can because the more to know, the easier it is to help people.

After orientation, thet three of us head our separate ways to get to our first classes. We got our schedules after the meeting and compared. My first class is math whereas Uriah and Natalie have history together. I see them walk off together, a bit closer than they normally would and I wonder if they've both realized how they feel about each other. Sometimes I wish my friends weren't so oblivious, but when it comes to things I don't want to tell them yet, the trait certainly helps. I wish that we had more classes together, but since the wall of the city came down. more and more people from the Fringe have been welcomed into the city and they have to make room for everyone in classes. It's been like this since I was in second grade, so it's not as bad as it sounds. But every year more and more people do start coming into the city. Word keeps spreading around the country and I guess that it's a good thing considering this city is the only one that really survived.

I enter math and sit down in the second row next to one of my oldest friends and one of my biggest secrets, Jacob, who has his books open on his desk. Jacob has always been extremely studious. I don't blame him, being here is not something to be taken for granted. I've heard from my aunt about what the Fringe looked like and we have teachers here that give talks about how life used to be after the Purity War. I'm glad that life here isn't like that anymore, but I do know that there are still places that don't have the kind of society that we have now. We're lucky here.

"You do realize that it's just the first day right?" I ask him, pulling out a notepad.

Jacob looks up at me and shrugs, a smile on his face. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

I sigh. "But it's the first day," I tell him. "Don't you want to have some kind of fun on the first day?"

"Of course I do," he says. "Can't I just get my desk ready?"

I grin. "You can do whatever you want."

"Oh is that so?"

"It definitely is."

He looks around the empty room and then reaches under the desk to lace our fingers together. "I missed you."

"I missed you more," I tell him.

"Not possible."

Jacob and I have been seeing each other in secret for the past few years. It started one day after school when we were working on a project together. We had already been trying to finish up for about a week, and had gotten really close. We had been hovering over the project and made the same joke and we looked at each other and that was it. We didn't work the rest of the day. But it isn't like we're ashamed to tell anyone, we just don't want people to make big deal out of it. Both of us would rather pay more attention to schooling and getting the grades that we need to get the jobs that we want. We don't get to see each other in the time between school years because his family goes back to the Fringe to visit with family members that didn't trust moving into the city. And even though I had spent the summer with Uriah and Natalie, it just wasn't the same. I missed him.

His thumb draws circles on my hand and I look up at him. "This is our last year," I say. "What are we going to do?"

"It's going to be fine," he says. "I'm smart, Hayle. I'm going to get a job at Erudite and you're going to see me so much you'll be sick of me."

"I know," I say. "I know."

He leans over and presses his lips against my cheek. "You think this year you'll finally tell your friends about us?"

"Are you sure you want that?" I ask. "They'll be all over you."

"Better them being all over me then not knowing."

I nod. "Yeah," I say. "I'll tell him."

"Good," he says. "That way this doesn't have to be something we have to in secret in between classes."

I smile. "Secret's been fun though, right?"

"Fun outrun its course though."

"Yeah," I say. "You're probably right."

He looks at me curiously, studying my face.

"What?"

He doesn't say anything, just leans over and presses his lips to mine. I let out a sigh of relief when he rests his head against mine. "Three months is way too long for that."

"I agree."

I hear footsteps coming down the hall and I pull away from him. "I'll tell them today," I say after seeing the look on his face. "I promise."

"You better," he tells me.

I don't know if they'll be mad once I tell them. Uriah probably won't care, but Natalie might be hurt that I kept something like this from her for so long. I don't know how I did it, but I'm glad that I am able to keep this secret. I take a breath and scoot my chair a little bit closer to Jacob's as everyone starts to file into the classroom. It's our last year before going out there and getting jobs that we will be doing for the rest of our lives. This is the year where everthing changes.


	3. Chapter 3

**URIAH **

I was named after my dad's brother. He had been a big part at getting the city to what it once was. Unfortunately I was never able to meet him; he died months before I was born. But he died trying to save the city. I've always wanted to do something important with my life. To live up to the uncle that I never able to meet. And even though the city isn't as dangerous as it once was, there are still risks when it comes to protecting the city. I've wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps and protect the city ever since I was a little kid. It's been a dream of mine. But other things have started filling my mind and distracting me. Other things like Natalie. She distracts me more than she should. I shouldn't even bother, because she more than likely still sees me as that chubby kid who accidentally ripped the dress she wore to her mother's wedding. We were both young and did stupid things. But now, we're older but I still do stupid things. I'm working on minimizing the stupid things I do, but it still takes some time.

The thought that this is the last year of school scares me a bit more than it should. I am excited to get out of school, but it makes me nervous that I won't be able to see Natalie or Hayley whenever I want to during the day. I have gotten used to knowing that they are always around and that I could turn to them to answer any questions that I had. Realizing that after this year is over I can't just go see them whenever I want. They'll both have their jobs and it will bring new people into their lives. It won't be the same. And as happy I am about becoming a protector of the city, I am terrified about things changing between the three of us. The dynamic will change and I don't want to lose them.

After orientation is over, Natalie and I head in the opposite direction of Hayley toward history. We've been friends pretty much since we all came out of the womb. We have experienced everything together. Life would have been extremely boring if I had never known them. I can't imagine not having either of them in my life. I follow Natalie into the classroom and sit down next to her, resting my head on the desk. She looks over at me.

"You tired or something?" she asks.

"A bit," I tell her with a slight grin.

"That's what happens when you get up before the sun just to go running."

I make a face at her. "But it's fun."

She shakes her head. "I don't think so."

"I'm going to drag you running with me one day, and you'll see that it's fun."

"Good luck getting me out of bed."

"I could just lay on you.'

"I don't think that would get the results you want."

We make eye contact for a second before turning back to face the front of the classroom. I look over at her and I see pink on her cheeks. What reason could she have to be blushing right now? I glance up at the clock, and notice that we still have a few minutes before the lecture is supposed to start. I look back at Natalie.

"Do you have any new art?" I ask her.

"Not new," she says pulling out her sketch book. "But...I did finish my drawing of the Hancock building."

She says the last part a little bit nervously and bites her lip as she opens to the page. I look down at the drawing and slide it across the desk to study it closer.

"Whoa," I say. "This is..."

"Bad?" she says. "Weird? Dumb? All of the above?"

I look up at her. "Why would you say that?"

She shrugs. "I don't know.

"This is definitely not dumb," I tell her. "Far from it."

She smiles and brushes her hair back behind her ear. "Okay, cool," she says.

I hand her back her sketch pad and lean over. "I'm serious though."

"About what?"

"Going running."

She groans. "But why? It's so early."

"Because I want to spend some time with you."

She looks confused. "What are we doing right now then?"

"We're in school," I say. "That's completely different."

She doesn't say anything for a few moments. She chews on the inside of her cheek before shrugging. "What time should I tell Hayley to meet us?"

I shake my head. "I was thinking it could be just us."

Her eyes go wide as she looks at me. "Seriously?'

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know," she says.

"So..." I say, offering her a slight grin. "You in?"

"Yes," she answers with a smile of her own. "I'm in."

At lunch we meet up with Hayley who looks like she has brought along Jacob. I know Jacob from childhood, as well as from my English class. Natalie looks at me with a confused look on her face. I'm curious as to why he's joining us as well. Normally it's just the three of us that eat lunch together.

"Hey," I say to Jacob as he and Hayley sit down across from us.

"Hey," Hayley says with a smile.

"What's up?" Natalie asks, looking between Jacob and Hayley curiously.

Hayley takes a breath. "Don't freak out," she says. "Or be mad at me."

I stare at her. "Mad? Why would we be mad at you?"

"You guys know Jacob, right?"

"Yeah of course we know Jake," Natalie says.

"Well...Jake is my boyfriend," she says quickly. "We've been dating over two years."

A squeak comes from Natalie's direction and I look at her.

"What?" I say, looking back at Hayley.

"Seriously?" Natalie says. "Seriously?"

Hayley shakes her head. "I didn't want you guys to react this way. That's why I kept it a secret."

"We're not mad, Hayles," I say. "I'm just really surprised that you kept this from us for so long."

Hayley smiles at me and then we both look at Natalie. She's got a big smile on her face. "This is great news," she says.

"Yeah?" Hayley asks.

"Yes!" she shakes her head. "However, I am more than a little upset that you waited so long to tell us!"

"You're not the only one," Jacob says with a grin.

Hayley pushes his arm and Jacob leans over to kiss her cheek. I glance over at Natalie who quickly looks down at her lunch to pull out her food. Part of me wonders if she's uncomfortable because she likes Jake. I'll never know, because I'll never ask her.


	4. Chapter 4

**NATALIE **

I wake to the sound of my door being opened and I peek out from under the sheets just in time to see Uriah jumping onto my bed and laying on me.

"No," I groan, trying to shift away from him. "What are you doing here? It's too early!"

He rests his head on my stomach. "We made plans, Nat!"

"No, we didn't!"

"Yes, we did," Uriah says tugging on the blanket so that my face is revealed.

I let out a sigh. "I hate you," I tell him. "Get off of me so I can dress."

"Are you going to lock me out of your room so you can go back to sleep?"

"No..."

He grins at me and hops off of my bed to head to my dresser. He pulls out a pair of pants and a jacket and tosses them at me. "I'll turn around, but I'm not leaving the room. Hurry up and get dressed."

I stare at him, my cheeks turning red. "Are you serious?" I ask him.

"Why not?" he asks. "It's not like I haven't seen you dressed in way less."

"Maybe when we were like five!"

"I won't be looking," he says. "I promise."

I swallow nervously and climb out of bed. Sure he and I are just friends, but my nerves don't dissipate just because we're only friends. I quickly pull my clothes off and dress in the ones that Uriah had picked out for me before turning around. "Okay," I say, pulling my hair up into a bun. "I'm dressed, you can look now."

He turns around with one hand over his eyes and he peeks at me through his fingers. "Okay good," He says dropping his hand. "Are you excited?"

I make a face at him. "Don't ask dumb questions."

He grins at me and opens the door and I follow him down the stairs. My parents are already awake and my dad is standing in the hallway drinking a cup of coffee. "I can't believe you got her out of bed," he says. "I can barely do that."

"What can I say?" Uriah says with a laugh. "I've got skills."

"Please save me," I tell my dad.

He shakes his head. "Nope," he says. "I don't save people anymore. I gave that up a long time ago."

"Dad!"

"Nat!"

I groan. "Mom!"

"Sorry honey," she says. "You've never been out of bed this early, it's very exciting."

"I hate you guys," I tell him before heading outside.

Uriah jogs after me. "Your parents are fun."

"No they absolutely are not," I say shaking my head. "I think they've been together so long that they think that they're normal."

"That's probably where you get it then," he says nudging my arm.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that," I tell him. I stretch my arms over my head. "Okay, so where are we running?"

"I was thinking that since it's your first time, we could just run through the main section of the city and then come back to shower and get ready for school."

I nod. "Okay, but remember that I don't do this very often, so don't run off without me."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he grins at me.

He starts off running and I follow him through the streets going to the city, being sure to stay out of the way of anyone who has to be at work this early. After a while, we are running at the same pace, but it's not too fast that I can't breathe. He glances over at me.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," I say. "This isn't too bad."

"That's good," he says. "But that's not what I was talking about."

"What then?"

"Are you okay about Hayley?"

"What are you saying about?"

"About her and Jacob?" he says. "I don't know if you liked him or something."

I can't stop myself from laughing. I laugh so hard, that I have to stop running in order to catch my breath. I put my hands on my hips to help stabilize myself. Uriah comes to a stop next to me.

"I don't get it," He says. "What's funny?"

I look up at him. "The fact that you think I like Jake," I say. "As more than a friend, I mean."

"You don't?"

"No."

"Then why did you look uncomfortable when he kissed her cheek?"

"So you caught that, huh?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says. "What's up?"

I shake my head. "Nothing," I shrug. "It's nothing important."

I start to move again, but Uriah grabs my arm to stop me. "You can tell me anything, you know that right?"

"Yeah I know."

"Then what?"

I swallow. "I just... I want that."

"Want what?"

"I want what Hayley has. I want that someone I can just be with, you know?" I shake my head. "It sounded less stupid in my head."

"It's not stupid."

"Yeah it is."

"No, Nat, it's not."

I look up at him at the sound of his voice. He's looking at me with a curious expression on his face. I feel my chest tighten and I realize that I've said more than I wanted to. I shake my head. "I'm gonna head back."

"What? Why?"

"I'm done for today," I say backing away.

He takes a step toward me. "Nat, come on..."

"I'll see you later!" I tell him, running off in the opposite direction.

I can't believe that we had that conversation. At least it's a good thing that he hasn't picked up on my feelings for him. But what reason could there be for him to think that I like Jake? I pick up the pace because all I want to do is run home and wash this feeling away. It seems like the possibility of me liking him was so farfetched that it hadn't even crossed his mind. And then it dawns on me. If he never even thought about it, then I need to stop thinking about it.

Uriah and I haven't even been gone that long, so when I run into the house, my parents looked confused.

"Nat?" my mom asks as I run past the two of them up the stairs. "Honey are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" I say, not wanting to say anymore because it would give away the sound of my tears. Instead I run into the bathroom and turn on the water. I keep my crying as quiet as I can so that my parents don't hear me. But I do stay in the shower longer than I normally do, so that probably is a sign for them. I change in the bathroom, because I know when I get to my room, one of them is going to be there, waiting to talk to me. When I leave the bathroom, I see my mom is sitting on my bed. She looks up when I walk in.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey," she says. "You wanna talk about it?"

'No," I say a bit too quickly.

"Come on," she says patting the bed next to her. "I was your age once."

"Yeah, obviously."

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm," she says. "Talk to me. What's going on inside that head of yours."

"I like someone."

"Uriah?"

I look at her. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to me because I know you so well."

"So does he."

"He's a boy. They're all idiots."

"Hey, I resent that." Dad comes up the door

"You were an idiot," mom tells him.

"Rude," he says narrowing his eyes at her. He looks at me. "If he doesn't like you then he's the idiot."

"That's the thing," I say. "I don't know how he feels."

"Then ask him."

Mom looks at him. "You really are an idiot."

"Hey!"

"Get out," she says getting up from the bed and pushing him from the room.

She shuts the door and turns back to look at me. "Actually your father isn't an idiot," she says. I can hear dad laughing on the other side of the door. "Just talk to him sweetie. See what's there. And if there's nothing, that's okay. You'll always be friends."

I bite my lip and let out a breath. "Okay," I tell him. "I'll think about it."

She nods and me and then leaves my room taking my dad down the stairs with her. I lay down on my bed nad shake my head. "Okay, Nat," I say. "Just talk to him."

I hear a knock at the front door downstairs. "Uriah's here!" Dad calls out.

"Shut up!" Mom hisses at him.

I groan. "Well it's now or never, I guess."


	5. Chapter 5

**HAYLEY **

Telling my parents was a completely different story. And what with Jake coming to get me this morning, I didn't really have a lot of time to stall. I finish getting dressed before heading down to where my parents were sitting eating breakfast.

"Nice of you to join us," Mom says with a smile on her face. "Eat something, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," I say going to the counter to make some toast. "So...I need to talk to you guys."

"That doesn't sound good," Dad says.

I don't look at him. "It's good for me," I say. "I'm just not sure how you're going to take it."

I hear a rustling and my father has put down the paper and I can feel him staring at me. When dad puts the paper down, that's how I know this is being taken seriously. I bite my lip and turn around to look at my parents, a forced smile on my lips.

"What's going on?" Mom asks. She sounds curious, and just a little bit nervous.

"So...you guys remember Jake right?"

"Jacob...Donovan?" dad asks. "From the Fringe?"

"Once upon a time, yeah," I say.

"Of course we know him," Mom says. "And his parents. Why?"

"Well..." I pause

Dad sighs. "You're with him, aren't you?"

I didn't like that reaction. "Yeah," I say. "Actually."

"For how long?"

"Two years?"

"Two years?" Mom sounds surprised. "You were able to keep this from us for two years?"

I nod and then look at my dad. He looks more annoyed then mad. "Do you have anything to add?" I ask him.

"Why are you telling us now?" he asks. "If it's been a secret for the past two years?"

I sigh. That's what this is about. He's upset that I didn't tell him. I move to go sit down next to him. "Because it's time," I tell him. "Both of us wanted to keep it a secret to make sure that we put of studies first. Both of us want good jobs."

He takes a sip of his coffee and mumbles something into the cup. I look at my mom. "Can you help me?"

She raises her hands. "I can't make him like your boyfriend, Hayles," Mom says. "But you can invite him to dinner."

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'll talk to Tris about doing a family dinner."

"Wait, with everyone?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Uhm...because that may scare him off."

Dad laughs. "Good."

"Dad, seriously?" I ask him.

He looks at me. "What?"

"Please be nice to him."

"Fine," he says shaking his head. "Whatever you want."

I kiss his cheek. I smile nervously at them when I hear the knock at the door. "Good, because I'm walking to school with him."

"Oh good," Dad says, starting to get up from his chair.

"No, stay!" I tell him pushing him back down. "I"ll see you guys later!"

"Oh no you don't," Mom says running past me and toward the door. I curse silently and my dad raises his eyebrows at me.

"Sorry," I tell him.

"Good morning, Jake!"

I groan. My mom sounds way too perky and excited to be talking to my boyfriend. And I know that my parents will be embarrassing me.

"Hi Mrs. Prior," Jake says.

"Here we go," Dad grins at me as he goes toward the front door. I follow him nervously.

"Hey Hayles," Jake smiles at me as we come into view.

"Hey," I say with a smile of my own. "You know my parents."

"Yeah, I do," he says. "It's good to see you again, Mr. Prior."

My dad doesn't say anything right away, but after a moment he nods and I feel relieved. This is my first time bringing a boy over that wasn't Uriah. I didn't know how it was going to go. "Good to see you Jake."

I let out a breath. He's probably going to talk to Aunt Tris about doing something to embarrass me, but that'll have to wait. I take Jake's hand and look back at my parents. "We've gotta to go school. But we'll see you later!"

I rush out of the house with Jake behind me and I let out a breath of relief when I hear the door close behind me.

"What was that about?" Jake asks.

"I told them that you're my boyfriend," I say. "My dad is just being incredibly weird right now."

"He's not, like, gonna kill me or anything right?"

I laugh. "No, of course not. You're lucky that Uncle Tobias isn't my dad. He can be pretty scary."

"And that's Tris' dad, right?"

"Yeah," I say, grabbing his hand We walk together silently through the city. It feels good to be out like this. I never thought that we would do this...I never thought we'd have the opportunity. I glance over at him and raise a brow when I see a smile on his lips. "What's that for?"

"I'm just happy," Jake says. "Am I not allowed to be happy?"

"No, you're definitely allowed to be happy," I tell him with a grin.

He stops walking and leans in to kiss me. I stand on my toes to press my lips against his and smile when he pulls away.

"It's nice to finally be able to do that," he says.

"Yeah," I answer. "Better than I thought."

He kisses me again before we start walking again. "So how did your friends take the news?"

"I have no idea," I tell him. "Uriah seemed to take it well, but Natalie was acting a little weird. I have to talk to her later about it."

"I'm sure you guys will be okay," he says, squeezing my hand.

"I don't deserve you, you know," I say.

He grins. "Yeah you do."

** A/N: sorry it took so long. hayley is hard to get a handle on.**


	6. Chapter 6

**NATALIE**

I take a breath before standing up. My mom kisses my cheek. "You have nothing to be afraid of," she tells me.

I roll my eyes. "So you say."

She grins at me as she leaves my room and I take another look in the mirror before following her down the stairs. Uriah is sitting at the dining room table with my father chewing on a piece of toast. I know that he eats at his parents' house, his mother would never let him leave without doing so, but that boy is never done eating. The butterflies start fluttering around like crazy in the pit of my stomach as I approach the two of them. He stands when he sees me, swallowing the bite that he had been working on.

"Hey," he says, offering me a shy smile.

"Hey," I say, mildly confused. What the hell does he have to be shy about? I'm the one who made a fool of myself when we were running. And I'm probably going to make a fool of myself later too. But even so, I can't keep these feelings to myself anymore. It'll end of driving me crazier than I already am.

"Natalie, honey, are you going to eat?" Dad asks, looking up at me from behind his paper.

I shake my head. "I'll just have coffee."

"You should really eat," Uriah says. "After running, you need sugar."

"I'll get it from the coffee," I say. It comes out harsher than I had meant it to, and he takes a step back, not saying anything. So Instead I grab an apple from the counter and shove it into my bag. I'll have to remember to eat it later, once I'm finished dying of embarrassment. "I'll see you guys later."

Uriah and I start to head out and I look back at my mother who's giving me a thumbs up. I glare at her and pull on Uriah's hand to make sure we get out before he sees or hears anything equally humiliating. Once we are outside, that awkward silence falls over us and I take a sip of coffee not quite knowing what to say.

"So…" he says. "Care to tell me what happened earlier?"

"What happened earlier when?" Damn. That's my defense mechanism. Playing dumb. I need to take that off as my default setting if I'm going to get through telling Uriah how I feel about him. I swallow. "Sorry. Ignore me. I know what you're talking about."

"Why'd you run off?"

I take a moment to find the words that I want to say. "I was overwhelmed."

"With running?" he asks. "If you didn't want to go you could have just said—"

I shake my head. "No, it wasn't the running."

"Then what was it?"

I bite my lower lip, trying to bide my time.

"Nat." He sounds annoyed. I stop walking and look up at him. He's staring down at me with those intense eyes of his and the butterflies flap their wings faster against my insides. I take a breath. "What overwhelmed you? Talking about Hayley? Because we don't have to…"

I don't know what came over me. Or where it came from. I just knew that I couldn't give him an explanation in words, so instead I lean forward and press my lips to his. I feel like the air has been sucked out of me and everything around us falls still. I don't know how long we stand there, with our lips together, but when I try to pull away, an aggravated noise comes from Uriah's throat and his hands on my waist, pulling me closer to him.

_Oh._

My hands find their way around his neck through our parted lips our tongues meet, dancing together, exploring. I can taste the peanut butter from the toast he had just finished eating and I realize peanut butter had never tasted so damn good to me.

But then I need to breathe. So I pull back and rest my head against his, gasping for air. His hands stay in their place on my waist. My eyes are closed, because I'm partially afraid to open them and see the look on his face I hear him chuckle and my eyes snap open to see what's funny.

I melt a little when I see the smirk on his face. "Did you kiss me to shut me up?"

"No," I whisper. "Because I'm scared to say the words."

"Can I guess them?"

I nod.

"You like me?" I nod. He grins. "I like you."

A grin splits my face in two. "Yeah?"

He tugs me against him and kisses me again. "Yeah."

I reach up and ruffle my fingers in his har. "Okay good."

"How could you think that I don't?"

"Because we've been friends for so long…and part of me thought you liked Hayley."

He grins. "As a friend. I'm glad she has Jake. I felt guilty for wanting to take you away from her."

"Take me away?"

"You know what I mean," Uriah says. "Now I feel less guilty about monopolizing your time."

"Oh really?"

He pulls away and laces our fingers together as we begin our walk toward school "I didn't expect this morning to go the way that it did."

"I bet," I say smirking.

"No, what I mean is that what I really wanted to do was tell you how I felt on the run."

I freeze and look at him. "Are you kidding me?"

"No," he says shaking his head. "That was the plan all along."

"That's why you didn't want Hayley to come with us?"

"Well that and she hates running, so…"

I squeeze his hand. "How are you so amazing?"

"I think it's in the genes or something."

I can't keep the stupid grin off of my face as we enter the school building. People see our interlaces fingers and I immediately here whispers. Normally I guess whispers wouldn't occur, but given who our parents are, I guess it's kind of a big thing. I wish it wasn't. I want to keep Uriah to myself as long as I can.

"Hey," Uriah says as he stands next to me at my locker. "I was thinking that after school today, you and I could head to the train and do a little riding around."

"Are you asking me on a date?" I ask him.

"So what if I am?"

"Then I'd say yes," I tell him.

He smirks at me. "Good because I think you and I need some alone time."

The thought of alone time sends my brain into overdrive and those butterflies into a frenzy. "Our parents will worry."

"Let them."

"They'll be mad."

"They'll be happy."

"Okay." I say, giving up.

"Okay?"

"Okay," I repeat, shutting my locker.

"Great!" He says kissing my cheek. "Let's head to class."

A/N: I decided to give up on trying to write this book from three different perspectives. It was too tiring for me to decide how they all sounded in my head. So we're sticking with Natalie.


End file.
